Sally Oliva
Sally Weisslock Oliva is an Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, who has been operating out of the Segmentum Pacificus in the vicinity of the Sabbat Worlds since late M41. Characterized by a violent and efficient approach to rooting out heresy, Oliva and her retinue of acolytes set about their grim task while pursuing an even more insidious foe. History Background Oliva is a classic example of an Acolyte plucked from the Schola Progenium and groomed early on to serve as her mentor's successor. With a father high up in the Commissariat and a mother in line for officership before their tragic but inevitable deaths, it was only natural that young Oliva would be raised in the Schola Progenium. It was shortly before she would have been released from the Schola that she was handpicked by a gruff old Witchhunter, Fabian Kur. Though it was not the path she had expected her life to take, Oliva was not about to refuse such a feared and privileged position (nor, in all likelihood, could she). Her mentor took after Fyodor Karamazov's stern Amalathian methods, and Oliva came to admire this about him in her years as his acolyte. Despite this, Oliva disliked the elaborate or excessive torture methods she learned as an Explicator. It was not a matter of moral umbrage; Oliva found that the use of an Excruciator and a pistol was far more efficient, and she may have been inspired by the brutal but similarly efficacious battlefield confessions employed by some Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas. Regardless of Oliva's distaste for the nine levels of torture and all it entailed, Oliva passed from Explicator to Interrogator with relative ease. Leading retinues of lesser acolytes and handling the affairs of her master had become second nature, by then, and Oliva's last push toward the rosette was relatively mundane. It was an incident involving a counterfeit artifact purported to be the skull of Saint Sabbat which drew the attention of the other Inquisitors of the sector, in turn hastening Kur's recommendation to the Ordos that she be given her rank and rosette. Oliva privately kept the skull as a keepsake, and took to her duties with expected vigor. Since then, Oliva has drifted somewhat apart from her mentor, though they will occasionally work together when circumstances permit. Oliva drifted about for much of her early career, and the bulk of the action she saw came from the tumultuous Calixis Sector. She contends, albeit quietly, that she was picking up the slack for the "layabout Calixian Ordos". Cutting her teeth as a full inquisitor there set events into motion that would change Oliva's life forever. It was in the Gorgonid Mine on Sepheris Secundus, that Oliva first encountered a figure called the "Whisperer in the Dark", an elusive agent of the Ruinous Powers whose techniques recall the infamous Voice of the Emperor. The Whisperer, so far as Oliva has been able it gather, is equally adept in sorcery and in corrupting faithful servants of the Emperor. The Whisperer, once established, can rapidly make apostates of the local priesthood. Failing that, the Whisperer often tries to incite the common people against their superiors, though this tends to be less effective unless performed on a truly grand scale. Though Oliva managed to keep the Whisperer from rousing and uniting the various malcontent groups in the mine, she failed to apprehend them. So began a protracted chase out of the Calixis Sector and the Segmentum Obscurus altogether, leaving a trail of dead in its wake. Now Oliva and her quarry find themselves in a sort of standoff in the Segmentum Pacificus, and Oliva fears that the Whisperer's wicked orations may be used on the Sabbat Worlds next. The threat they pose to the sector and the Imperium as a whole through their apostate cardinals cannot, in Oliva's mind, be overstated. The Whisperer remains unhelpfully elusive despite Oliva's best attempts. Personality and Philosophy Oliva's rigid approach to her work is tempered by a wry sense of humor and an almost genuine air of kindness and cordiality. Indeed, many are surprised to find discipline or severity behind such a small and unimposing exterior, particularly new acolytes. This is often borne out in Oliva's fast and messy style of 'field confession', which she readily turns on subordinates who are lacking in sufficient faith and conviction, the better to motivate those of stronger constitution. Not coincidentally, Oliva has claimed that she was in line for cadetship in the Commissariat before Kur picked her up. Broadly, Oliva is Amalathian in approach. She believes that the Imperium as a whole should change as little as possible, except perhaps to redouble its fanaticism against the terrors of the galaxy and its means of doing away with them. The Inquisition, in her view, is an agency devoted to the Imperium's preservation, and that extreme methods are sometimes necessary to that end. As one would expect, Oliva abhors Oblationists, Xeno Hybrists, Horusians, and Xanthists among others and is cautious of Thorians and Libricars. While she is not wholly opposed to researching and occasionally utilizing the weapons and methods of the enemy, she would never consider it as a matter of course. Despite her more conservative views, Oliva has been known to work closely with Polypsykanists, Istvaanists, and Monodominants. Her major conflicts within the Inquisition have been with Recongregationists and Seculos Attendous, not to mention any Inquisitors who dabble excessively in the Warp. Oliva holds Fyodor Karamazov in high regard, much as her master did, and she speaks highly of the Salem Proctor incident when in sympathetic company. Taking a cue from Karamazov, Oliva judges and interrogates her subjects under a presumption of guilt; if innocence can be proven beyond any doubt, then it should be declared as such, but Oliva contends it is better to execute a dubiously innocent man than to free a heretic with a decent alibi. Furthermore, Oliva believes in judging others rigidly against the Imperial Creed, and generally prefers to deliver quick and comparatively clean deaths to petty heretics. However, Oliva has also studied the methods of Inquisitor Tyrus, in particular his elaborate, religiously-tinged methods of trial by ordeal, leading her to work often with local Confessors to extract confessions and conduct similar trials with the local populace. Oliva tries to appear as though she is the executor of the Emperor's will insodoing, in hopes of putting the impertinent and cynical at-ease with regards to her work. It also endears her to the Ecclesiarchy, who have proven powerful allies in the past. More controversially, Oliva has a dim view of the Adeptus Astartes. She considers their creation a mistake on the part of the Emperor, but one made with the best of intentions. Indeed, legions of self-regulating supersoldiers with minimal oversight do not sit well with her, especially given their historical clannishness and resistance to Inquisitorial inquests. Those who would levy the same criticism at the Inquisition will be happily reminded of the Horus Heresy and all of the misery it has caused, not to mention that it was this very incident that brought the Inquisition into being. It is for this reason that she will clandestinely lend aid to the Ordo Astartes when the opportunity arises, the better to keep those uppity abhumans honest. She shares the opinion of Monodominant inquisitors that any and all mutants and abhumans should be done away with once all is made right, Astartes included. Despite this, she will work with them when the need arises and tends not to air her views unnecessarily. Equipment * Inquisitorial Rosette: Oliva's badge of office and the mark of her allegiance to the Ordo Hereticus, and the reason she can demand the service and compliance of whomever she pleases. * Ecclesiarchal Rosarius: Many inquisitors carry a rosarius for the protective energy-field it can project around them, and Oliva is no exception. However, Oliva also has a friendly relationship with the Ecclesiarchy and tends to speak very elaborately on the divinity of the Emperor and the virtues of the Imperial Creed when the mood strikes her. Part of this may also be due to her willingness to obstruct the efforts of Seculos Attendous. * Purgatus Crossbow: The ugly lovechild of a shotgun and a crossbow, the brutal effectiveness of this weapon against soft targets is increased exponentially against psykers. The elaborately-etched bolts play havoc with a psyker's connection to the warp, severely limiting their powers or sending them entirely out of control, obliterating them in the process. * Excruciator: Oliva's preferred method of interrogation. "Field interrogations" are usually short, agonizing affairs that conclude with a single shot from her boltpistol. Though Oliva does little in the way of corpse-disposal, she considers this method "clean". * Cinder Crag “Mauler” Boltpistol: This expensive, custom-made item was Oliva's first major expenditure as an Inquisitor. Despite its lack of Inquisitorial mark, Oliva prefers this ostentatious weapon over her standard Sacristan-pattern sidearm, either for its superior killing-power or the wealth it implies. It is rumored that Inquisitor Kur helped Oliva in her purchase of this weapon, perhaps as a sort of graduation gift. * Inquisitorial Mandate: Nothing short of the Rosette itself is as capable of striking fear into the hearts of Oliva's underlings. The Inquisitorial mandate is a list of the grand and terrible punishments to be levied on those who fall short in their obligations to the Emperor. Though she does not always have it on her person, she prefers travelling with it. * Condemnor Boltgun: Effectively a combi-crossbow, this quintessentially Inquisitorial weapon is capable of firing the same psyker-slaying bolts as the Purgatus bow with the added advantage of being a bolter. Oliva will only use this during military engagements, though she may occasionally allow her bodyguard to wield it in her stead. * Concealed Bolter Cane: For special occasions. This expensive-looking cane houses a single bolter round in the upper end (usually a fragmentation round) that pierces through the bottom at her target. Oliva generally uses this weapon at formal occasions, where any prospective targets are likely to be unarmored and a single good shrapnel shot might be sufficient to deal with any problems that arise. She may occasionally load it with a more exotic shot if the situation calls for it. Retinue Though Oliva occasionally dips into the Schola Progenium for her acolytes, the most trusted members of her retinue have come from outside. * Beatrice: '''A former member of the Adeptus Arbites, Beatrice's quiet, uncompromising personality coupled with her propensity for spectacular feats of violence caught Oliva's interest immediately. They met on Verghast, where Beatrice single-handedly took on an untrained mob of fanatics belonging to one of the Whisperer's pawns. Those who survived the initial battering had no means to flee, and Beatrice savagely interrogated them until Oliva was able to gather herself and apply her Excruciator to the task. The two worked together to oust the Whisperer from Verghast and set the wrath of the Emperor upon their minions, during which time Oliva found every reason she needed to take Beatrice in as an enforcer in her retinue. Beatrice took to the news with her usual stony indifference, and has served as Oliva's bodyguard and partner since then. Beatrice might be the only person Oliva wholly and completely trusts with her life, though the inverse is likely not true. * '''Euchariah 7909: An arco-flagellant who exists as both a trophy and a testament to Oliva's work. Euchariah was a deacon who had been seduced by the Whisperer's words, and he was permitted to serve his penance as an arco-flagellant after a long and bitter trial. This proceeding was part of what convinced Oliva not to leave the Whisperer's pawns alive longer than she had to, but the end result was pleasing enough. Euchariah's successor was so delighted with his position (and it is believed that Oliva may have had some hand in it) that he offered the suffering cyborg to Oliva as a gift, and she accepted after some consideration. Armed with twin electroflails, Euchariah instills a degree of terror that even her bodyguard cannot match. Oliva considers him a weapon, and one she does not employ lightly or when subtlety is paramount. * Anwylyd: A miserable, shivering, wasted woman. Slim and often hunched, with wide eyes and an untamed mane of white hair, she is distinctly wretched, but she happens to be the finest psyker Oliva could get her hands on. Anwylyd is pyrokinetic, a discipline of psychic power that works poorly with her overwhelming desire to self-flagellate. She is only too happy to share her penance with any heretics Oliva sniffs out, however, earning her a place at Oliva's side when she expects a fight. Smarter and more independent than Euchariah, Anwylyd is no less subtle or terrifying, howling prayers of penance and supplication as she cauterizes the wound that is heresy. She is terrified of Sylva more so than anyone else, and is never brought on operations with her for this and other, more practical reasons. * Autosavant Sylva: One of Oliva's more notable acquisitions from the Schola Progenium, and the one she is most evidently grooming as an Inquisitor herself. As a Blank, Sylva's value in Oliva's retinue cannot be overstated, despite her relative inexperience. Relationships Allies Enemies Quotes By About Trivia * I commissioned that image of her! It's pretty neat. Blazbaros drew it. Category:Imperial Characters Category:Inquisitors Category:Inquisition Category:Characters Category:WoodmusFriendlyman